Chapter 18

280 28 1
                                    

The group made their way past the pastures and farm land, curiously watching several mechanical men wandering around, completely ignoring them. A young dwarf woman waved at them, smiling brightly as they made their way past.

A dragon, bright green with large antler-like horns made his way up to the group, holding a bale of hay over it's shoulder. He examined them curiously, his bright yellow eyes studying them. "Are you going into the forest?" He asked.

"Indeed. Why?" Akiya questioned.

"Be cautious of the nymphs. They have been particularly troublesome as of late." He bowed his head before continuing past.

"Forgive me for stopping you!" Mari called. "But do you happen to know the Alvar clan?"

His head turned back around to look at the woman curiously. "Every dragon worth anything knows of the Alvars. Why do you ask?"

"No reason... I was just curious if the dragons down here knew them." Mari answered, smiling softly before turning to continue following her siblings.

"Down here? You don't... what?" He tilted his head curiously, a few vines coming loose from his antlers as he shook his head.

"Have a wonderful day!" Mari called over her shoulder. The group continued towards the forest, and the dragon went back to whatever he was doing though likely far more confused than he was before.

"Was that wise?" Ran questioned curiously.

"Well I didn't really outright tell him." Mari shrugged. "Though Artemis is saying the same thing so I guess it was a stupid idea."

"We don't really want more people than necessary knowing where we're going and what we're doing." Nokiya offered. "If the people down here think they can return to the surface at any time they may be more inclined to do so, which can reveal this place to the rest of the world."

They broke free of the pastures, finding the stone path turning into a light gravel one that edged closer towards the forest itself. They were starting to see the bright green and blues of the magical underground forest, looking slightly similar to the indoor garden at Nightshade castle.

"Yeah, but I was curious. These dragons have been down here for ages, I would have thought they wouldn't know of the Alvars." Mari answered.

"While father was not alive back then, Itzal might have been. He would have created his empire in the Dragon Realm and solidified the Alvar name among the dragons. But supposedly the Dwarves vanished before that. There is a chance that the people here still had contact with the surface for a while yet though, and would have heard of Itzal and the Alvar clan." Ariadne explained. "Of course, there were vampires around him, so perhaps they may not have had the best memories of him."

"You think they might think he was a bad leader because he was seduced by Blair?"

"Well, the stories that we were told tell us that Itzal thought of Blair as a close friend, but that they were involved romantically. However we also know that he had a child with his wife before she died, and Avalon."

"Was it Avalon? Or Avalar? I really can't tell the difference between those two." Akiya muttered.

Ariadne went to answer, seemingly to confirm Akiya's question, but then paused herself. Not really knowing if she was right. She instead gave up, not willing to embarrass herself.

"Anyways, yes. I don't know if he was remembered for the great war general that he was. Or if he was a joke to them because of how many people he had been with. Even if his wife died, and he simply found someone new while only befriending Blair." Ariadne explained.

Dragon Realm 2 : The Ebonforge (Lesbian Story)Where stories live. Discover now